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IOS - the slow train of gaming
Like all board gaming IPad owners I get very excited when I read that one of my favourite boardgames is getting the Apple Magic treatment. However, excitement only last so long. The 'Cult of the New' phenomenon in gaming circles and the short lead time between a board game designer having an idea and it appearing at Essen means that the game that is still awaiting an Ipad release is already languishing at the back of the gaming cupboard, unplayed. We have moved on! It seems rather ironic that the dinosaur that is the physical world of board gaming is faster to publish than computer versions of said games. I was a big Dominion fan back in the mists of 2000 and ??? see already forgotten. However I read (can't find link) that the IOS implementation is still in beta. Well I don't care - i'd of been all over it a two or three years ago now I have new games to play. A lot of games only get a release after they have become successful - which misses the opportunity for digital sales at the peak of their popularity. Maybe publishers need to start planning the digital version before the physical game has been made.
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I've found myself buying iPad versions of board games as a cheap way to trial the 'real thing' - especially as often you don't need to get a bunch of people together and get them to risk an evening on something new - so, I think there is a marketing angle to having an electronic edition.
ReplyDelete(Particularly for Days of Wonder - I'm now desperate for them to reprint the Switzerland TTR map again. Fantasy Flight seem to be another one who commission their own apps).
But it looks like most games publishers don't commission apps but just want to licence out the name - Carcassonne is a great example where the iOS and Android versions look they were licensed out separately, resulting in very different titles.
That said - a good App can easily cost six figures to develop, especially if you want good computer based opponents with different playing styles. It's going to sell for 4.99 tops. That's a very different business to board games.